Polish graduates from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO), the country’s most prestigious university and Sergei Lavrov’s alma mater, were purged from their Foreign Ministry after Warsaw preemptively took action to stop those diplomats from pioneering a rapprochement with Russia.

Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowitz announced that his country’s earlier plan to remove all graduates of the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO, per its Russian abbreviation) from his ministry has been successfully completed, with the innuendo being that Poland is now much safer from any possible “Russian spies” that could have infiltrated its diplomatic ranks through that university. There has thus far been no proof presented whatsoever to suggest that Polish MGIMO graduates who later went on to work for their Foreign Ministry were engaged in treason, but the very fact that they had a years-long and high-level public connection to Russia was apparently enough to disqualify them from their positions and ruin their entire careers.

It should be reminded that Poland presumably follows international standards in this sphere by making aspiring diplomats submit to vigorous background checks in order to detect possible spies, with follow-up interviews usually being conducted with those whom the security services are concerned about because of their personal, professional, or other connections to foreign entities. It’s very likely that Polish MGIMO graduates were placed under intense scrutiny prior to their employment and probably underwent intense vetting before being allowed to enter the Foreign Ministry, which further contradicts Czaputowitz’s hints that this cadre of his staff might have been “Russian spies” and therefore deserved to be fired.

It can’t be known for sure, but one possible explanation of why the Foreign Ministry enacted its policy of firing Polish MGIMO graduates is because these individuals more than likely held pragmatic views towards Russia as result of attaining their education there and seeing with their own eyes that the Mainstream Media’s portrayal of the country is nothing more than a weaponized infowar psy-op. This makes them the most likely forces to lobby for a game-changing Polish-Russian rapprochement, something that Moscow has always been interested in but which has been resolutely rejected by Warsaw, both due to the authorities’ hyper-nationalist interpretation of history and also their desire to remain in excellent standing with the US as they advance their “Three Seas” vision for the region.

The government must have had reason to believe that this category of diplomats could succeed in this speculated scenario, or at the very least exert enough influence in the Polish “deep state” that some of its other elements might have reconsidered their rabid pro-Americanism, which is why the decision was made to completely purge them from the Foreign Ministry. Not only does this have long-term implications for Poland’s foreign policy and overall grand strategy, but it’s also very problematic for the people who were removed from their positions because of this paranoia. Already being de-facto “blacklisted”, it’s difficult to imagine how they’ll reinvent themselves and put their years-long professional experience to use in making a respectable living.

Some of them might have to move abroad and pursue new opportunities in the private sector or academia, though provided that the countries that they relocate to don’t abide by Poland’s unofficial “blacklist”. Instead of finding ways to “recycle” these individuals’ precious insight through jobs where the state’s paranoid concerns about “Russian spies” wouldn’t make any difference, the Polish government just dumped these people into the street and left them to fend for themselves, possibly even ruining more than a few families in the process. Consequently, this purge will reinforce the Polish “deep state’s” pro-American groupthink and eliminate any realistic chances of a Polish-Russian rapprochement, outcomes that Warsaw wanted so badly that it was willing to sacrifice dozens of its own diplomats to attain.

DISCLAIMER: The author writes for this publication in a private capacity which is unrepresentative of anyone or any organization except for his own personal views. Nothing written by the author should ever be conflated with the editorial views or official positions of any other media outlet or institution.

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Andrew Korybko is an American Moscow-based political analyst specializing in the relationship between the US strategy in Afro-Eurasia, China’s One Belt One Road global vision of New Silk Road connectivity, and Hybrid Warfare.

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